Delahaye 135 (Henri Chapron coach builder) by Heller 1/24 scale

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening, folks

 

Right half-bonnet now articulated and dry test fitting of the 2 half bonnets is correct :

 

  

 

And folded:

 

 

Next step: adjusting and gluing the five parts of the central hinge on the right places.

 

Slowly but steadily

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

[Schwarz-Brot]

Always a pleasure to see you work your magic.

[Norman]

Nice work !

[harveyb258]

Good stuff, Thierry 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening Gentlemen

 

After some misadventure (left half-bonnet fallen on the floor and hinge broken, all the job to remake),  I finally achieved to install, temporarily, the 3 hinges, and I've primed the 4 parts of the new bonnet, masking the central hinge.

After complete drying, some scratches appeared, that I've sealed, sanded and then primed another time.

 

Hereunder the result:

 

  

 

With the magnifying of the photo, I notice that the nickel plating of the hinge is still imperfect ...never mind ! It's too late now to correct that because the hinge is glued !

 

 

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A lot of job remains to do on this (I write the to do list, because that will be useful later for me to avoid forgetting anything)

 

- Reinforcing the central hinge from the interior with styrene strips

- disassembling,

- priming last coat on inner sides and several coats on outer sides of the four parts

- Sanding to get a smooooooooooottttthhhhhhhh surface

- Masking, painting dark blue the relief patterns at the bottom of the top parts

- Masking the relief patterns

- Painting the 4 panels pearl light blue

- Sanding the paint to get a smooth surface

- Intend to brush painting dark blue, the outer sides of the louvres (which shape is a half-shell), on the vertical panels

- And clear coating, then polishing with Tamiya compounds.

- And trying to chrome cover the 2 thin rushes above and under the louvres (BMF or Molotov ?)

- At last, re-assembling the four parts with the 3 hinges after having put on the vertical parts the lifting handles

- Pfuuuuuuu 🤪

 

All that stuff if extremely fragile, and one must handle the parts very carefully. I've been several times in a cold sweat 😰

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening my lords, ladies and gentlemen 

 

Today has been a very busy day ! however I didn't make a big progress for this build.

I've worked 8 hours with magnifying glasses and all I've got is a serious headache 🙁

 

But after all, a large step forward for the wiring of the spark plugs and scratching of a new ignition head, and wiring it

 

Spark plugs and wires. This wasn't a pleasant job, due to the difficulty to bend correctly with sharp angles a 0.38 mm wire, but the result is worthy !

 

  

 

Ignition head and wiring:

 

The part provided in the kit for the ignition head is very small, probably similar to the real one, but unusable if one want to detail the ignition wiring of the car, which engine deserve it !

 

I've found on the internet some reference pictures of the engine, that helps a lot:

 

 

So, scratch building ...

 

First I turned with the lathe the ignition head body, using a 3.00 mm brass rod.

 

 

I gave it the right shape (well, what I consider to be the right...), drilled it  1 mm over its all length, and threaded a 1.00 mm brass tube in it center, and I got this:

 

 

Then, I threaded onto the 1.00 mm brass tube, a styrene tube of 2,40 outer diameter, that I reduced to  1.75, filing it  while turning in my Dremel chuck

 

  

 

Next, using  a 0.68 mm electrical red wire (phone wire) and my 0.38 mm Hobby Design wire, I made 6 plug wires:

 

-  Strip the cable

- Throw the conducting wires

- Thread into the cable the0.38 mm wire

- Cut a  2.00 mm section of the red plastic cable

- Repeat 6 times

 

  

 

  

 

Then,  you have to glue (CA gel) the six plug wires around the styrene white brass tube, while respecting à 60° between each:

 

  

 

That's all Folks !

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

little comparison with the kit part:

 

 

Dry test fitting onto the engine block:

 

 

Once the glue dried, painting job: Tamiya Hull red for the top of the ignition head, and matt black for spark plug connecteurs:

 

  

 

 

That's all Folks !

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

Superb job, especially on the ignition head and wires! 

[harveyb258]

I like very much...

[Roy vd M.]

That is a very interesting way to construct the hinges of the bonnet. I've been studying your pictures and thinking about it for the last couple of days, hoping to use it for the LGOC bus; but I'm afraid it's just too tiny (1/35 scale) even if fully integrated (cutting away the plastic, replacing that with metal). I would have drawn 'faux hinges' using pencil or so. 

 

Nice project once more. 

[Spiny]

I'm not sure I would have the patience (correction - I wouldn't have the patience!) to spend 8 hours on such a small scale item, but I do have to agree that the end result is superb (as is usually the case with your builds). I hopeyou'll be displaying it with the bonnet open as both the bonnet and underbonnet work should be seen.

[CrazyCrank]

2 hours ago, Spiny said:

I'm not sure I would have the patience (correction - I wouldn't have the patience!) to spend 8 hours on such a small scale item, but I do have to agree that the end result is superb (as is usually the case with your builds). I hopeyou'll be displaying it with the bonnet open as both the bonnet and underbonnet work should be seen.

Thank you all for your kind words

Obviously Spiny, if I've made an articulated bonnet, it's not without reason !

 

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening, Gentlemen

 

Since  Monday evening, I've worked a few hours here and there and brought some enhancements to the engine and the firewall.

Those enhancements are complementary .

 

On the engine first: Only the addition of a scratch built dipstick, at the moment, but much more to come, not counting the addition of carburetors, fuel pump and exhaust manifold

 

  

 

What more ?...I've planned to scratch or modify, among other things :

 

- the fuel line coming from the fuel pump towards the central carburetor, taking inspiration from some pics found on the Internet:

 

This one ?:

 

  

 

Or that one ?:

 

 

- the fuel lines joining the 3 carburetors, using 0.3 mm clear tube, taking inspiration from some pics found on the Internet:

 

  

 

- Replace, if possible,  the decal "DELAHAYE PARIS" on the left side of the engine block by 1.5 mm photo-etched brass letters (then painted red)

 

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- Scratch a (not functional) throttle linkage . Very difficult at this scale, and overall because it has to be done once the firewall and the engine put on the chassis 

 

  

 

 

Next post: all the job done over the firewall

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

 

 

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening, Gentlemen

 

As promised, firewall job !

 

The part provided with the kit is very finely engraved and count several details, some of which matching with the real, some others not, and finally several nether existed !
It was consequently necessary to study some reference photos, and to try to give much realism to this major part of the car.

 

So:

 

- I cut 2 "pins" on the firewall, threw one (unnecessary) in the litter box, and moved the other to the correct place

- scratched and added on the right side a brake fluid tank

- added 3 holes on the wall

- wired a bit more the electrical system below and over the fuse box

- turn on the lathe a horn trunk, using a brass rod

- added a brass strap to retain the ignition coil

- added the wire that connect the ignition coil top to the ignition head (red)

- and a wire that comes out the firewall  and will connect to the bottom of the engine's block left side, in front of the fuel pump

 

Then, painting job:

 

- For the electrical bundle engraved on the wall: yellow base, then black wash, then weathering with Tamiya clear orange

- For the retaining starts of this bundle: Molotov Chrome

- For the brake fluid tank, brass made, on a black base, 2 layers of Tamiya clear yellow, simulating  a glass tank fill with pale brown fluid

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

At last, I scratched  the 2 crossmembers that join the firewall and the radiator:

- 2 piano wires 0.4 mm

- A brass sheet 0.18 mm from which I cut 2 strips 4 mm length and approx  1 mm high,

- 2 sections 0,5 mm length of a 0.8 mm brass tube,

- Magnifying glasses

- Bending pliers

- 0.4 mm drill bit

- CA gel

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

It remains to wire the batteries, and to try to scratch and add the firewall parts of the throttle linkage. 

 

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

Good job as usual Thierry! I sure like those crossmembers. 

[Hamden]

 

Such outstanding attention to detail, superb workmanship!

 

  Stay safe                  Roger

[CrazyCrank]

Good afternoon Chaps

 

Thanks a lot, all of you guys, for your kind words 😎

 

I've no merits ! I did that only because I'm boring at home during lockdown, after my 12 or 14 daily busy hours 🤪

 

I've noticed on several Delahaye 135 pictures found on the Internet, that there is on each engine's bay crossmember another metal bar articulated with it, and that can be lift in order to retain the half-bonnet when it's folded:

 

  

 

No sooner seen than done !

 

We need:

 

- 0.80 mm brass tube, inner diameter 0.4 mm

- Piano wire 0.4 mm

- brass sheet 0.18 mm thick

- Drill bit 0.4 mm

- Electrical phone wire 0.6 mm, from which the wires have been removed to get a plastic tube 0.3 mm inner diameter approx.

- Soldering paste

- various files

- Magnifying glasses

- and a lot of antiparkinsonian medications 🤫

 

Processing:

 

Let's go for the articulated bar:

 

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And now for the retainer stuff (when bonnets closed):

 

  

 

It remains ro paint matt black the red plastic lock washers, and far later, when this system will be installed  in the engine bay, to cut the piano wire toi the right lengths, and paint the bonnet retainer bar satin black (why not ?)

 

One more to fabricate, so around 3 hours to waste instead of studying and upgrading my poor English 🙄 nasty boy 😡

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

I'd much rather see more of your modelling, I can understand your English just fine 🙂

[harveyb258]

Beautiful work, sir.

[Mr Mansfield]

That level of detail is astonishing! Great use of wire insulation on the distributor cap, I may try that myself 🙂

[CrazyCrank]

Thanks a lot my friends

 

Back to the engine and glueing of the photo-etched lettering "DELAHAYE PARIS" on the engine block, a very thorough work, that had to be done with bated breath.

Letters are 1.5 mm high, and has been glued with diluted ZAP canopy glue, which will turn transparent one dried.

This must dry 24 hours before to be painted red.

 

Not perfectly aligned, and not really the same dimensions than on the original, but I can live with this, and overall, I've achieved the desired effect 

 

After 15 minutes drying :

 

 

And after 30 minutes:

 

 

More to come soon

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by CrazyCrank

[Bengalensis]

Beautiful!

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening Gentlemen

 

Some engine parts as carburetors, fuel pump and exhaust have been cleaned and primed.

 Carburetors have been drilled 0.3mm on strategical places, preparing them for fuel intake. The same for the fuel pump.

 

All that stuff has to dry 24 hours before new cleaning, sanding, sealing gaps etc., and then priming them another time
 

Meanwhile, I've begun to work on the throttle linkage.

Don't worry, it won't be functional

 

First, for today, the 4 levers on their shaft, directly operated by the firewall linkage of the accelerator pedal.

 

One lever, the second starting for the left, is operated by this pedal, and rotate the shaft, and the 3 others, driven by the shaft, control the fuel admission in the 3 carburetors.

 

 

No plastic here, only scratch, and as usual, and I've used :

 

- a 1.00 mm brass tube

- brass sheet 0.18 mm thick

- Soldering paste, etc...well known song

 

  

 

  

 

 

Of course, there's still work to be done on this piece, particularly :

 

- a lot of sanding and filing, to decrease the size of one or two levers, and clean the whole set

- scratching the mounting system of this piece on the carburetors's base

 

And then, I'll try to scratch (I'm crazy or ambitious, or both) :

 

- 3 actuating rods for the fuel intake levers, and their 3 levers

- the firewall throttle linkage

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

[harveyb258]

Thierry, it's hard enough doing this stuff at 1/12 or 1/8 with all digital dexterity, so I doff my flat cap to you, my friend.

Can't wait for the return of the Bug' though......

[CrazyCrank]

14 minutes ago, harveyb258 said:

Thierry, it's hard enough doing this stuff at 1/12 or 1/8 with all digital dexterity, so I doff my flat cap to you, my friend.

Can't wait for the return of the Bug' though......

Take a look at my actual workbench, and you'll understand why it's actually impossible, at least technically : I've no room enough to put the LadyBug on... quite simply !

 

90 x 45 cm !

 

 

I've no more room to install my lathe, my  milling machine, my painting booth etc.

 

I'll be retired in less than 9 months, and have planed to reorganize drastically then the workspace in my home office (which is actually mostly dedicated to my medical business.

And overall, I'll be able to conduct larger projects, with much more time and space.

 

Don't be too eager 

Edited May 8, 2020 by CrazyCrank

[CrazyCrank]

Good afternoon, Gentlemen

 

A little progress early this afternoon:

 

 

- I've sanded and filed the shaft and levers of the carburetor linkage, and cleaned as well as possible (not as I would I'd liked because of the fragility of the levers)  the whole set

- And scratched the mounting system of this piece on the carburetors's base, which consist off 2 end parts, articulated with the shaft, and including pins to fix them on the carburetor's base

 

  

 

  

 

A lot of work remains to do, but I'm on the right way

 

Stay tuned if you like